You Don't Belong
by theawkwardturtlegirl
Summary: The Chipettes have just moved into a new neighborhood, but the friendly welcome they'd expect from their neighbors never comes. It's strange how hatred can cause a person to do the unthinkable...
1. Moving In

**_A/N: Hey, everyone! A long week of basketball practice is over with, midterms are dead and gone, and I can finally start writing my first fanfic! Since I have a border-line obsession with Alvin and the Chipmunks, I decided to write my first story on them. A couple of extra characters are added into this story and play a pretty big role, so definetly pay attention to them!_**

**_And as we can probably all tell, I do not own any of the Chipmunks, Chipettes, Miss Miller, or Dave, because otherwise, I wouldn't be writing this, now would I?_**

**_Enjoy!_**

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"Girls, wake up! It's moving day!" Miss Miller's voice echoed throughout the empty house.

Brittany, Jeanette and Eleanor woke up with a start. "It's moving day!" they said excitedly. Jeanette and Eleanor quickly changed and ran downstairs to meet Miss Miller.

"I'm sorry I woke you girls up a bit late," Miss Miller said, "but the moving van is outside, and we need to bring all of our extra bags to the van…where's Brittany?" she asked, suddenly realizing Brittany's absence.

Eleanor sighed. "She's still upstairs fixing her hair."

Miss Miller walked towards the staircase. "Brittany, get down here, or we'll be late!" she yelled upstairs.

"I'll be down in a minute!" Brittany replied from her bedroom.

"Well, you'd better be!" Miss Miller yelled back. "That girl will never learn that her hair is not that important…"

The doorbell suddenly rang, and when Miss Miller opened the door, Alvin, Simon, Theodore, and Dave stood outside. Dave flashed a wide smile. "Hi, Miss Miller! We're to help load the van."

"Good, you're just in time, too." Miss Miller quickly pulled them through the front door. "The moving van's waiting outside, and--" As if on cue, the driver of the van honked impatiently. "Hey lady!" the driver yelled. "We ain't got all day!"

Miss Miller sighed and yelled, "Just give us a minute!" She turned back to Dave. "And as you can see, they're pretty impatient." She turned to the Chipmunks and the Chipettes. "Alright, let's move!" she said, gesturing towards the stairs.

Just then, Brittany walked down the stairs wearing heavy makeup, and her hair curled and pulled into a ponytail. Jeanette and Eleanor sighed. "What?" she asked. "You can't rush beautiful hair. And I want to make a good impression in Weller." Her sisters rolled their eyes.

All six of the chipmunks ran upstairs to bring all of the bags down. While Simon and Theodore carried Jeanette and Eleanor's belongings, Alvin merely stared at the tower of bags Brittany had. He looked at Brittany. "What?" she asked.

"There's got to be at least thirty different bags!" he yelled.

Brittany smiled. "I know. And I'll need them all in the van in five minutes," she said while examining her nails.

Alvin stared at her in disbelief. "Aren't you at least going to help?"

"They're your responsibility, not mine." Alvin glared at her. She pulled his red cap over his eyes before walking out of the room. "Have fun!"

Five minutes later, the van was packed, the car was warmed up, and everyone shared their last-minute goodbyes.

Theodore hugged Eleanor tightly. "I'm really gonna miss you Ellie," he said.

Eleanor smiled. "Oh, Theo, we'll only be in the next town, but I'll miss you too."

"We promise, we'll visit often," Simon said as he held Jeanette's hand and walked her over to the car. Jeanette smiled, knowing Simon would keep that promise.

Brittany looked over at Alvin. "Well? Aren't you going to miss me?"

Alvin shrugged. "I'll know once you leave," he said.

Brittany glared at him. "Loser."

"At least I don't look like a clown with all that makeup on my face!" Alvin yelled. Brittany gasped. "Yeah, that's right! I went there!" Brittany stormed over to the car and slammed the door shut.

"Bye David!" Miss Miller yelled out the car window as they pulled out of the driveway. They all waved as they drove away, while Brittany and Alvin stuck their tongues out at each other.

The chipmunks and Dave all watched the car disappear at the end of the road. "I miss them already," Theodore said sadly, and hugged Dave.

As they walked into the house, Alvin looked down the road their car drove down. "Yeah…I miss them too…"

***

Sally Garrick sat on her front porch with a cup of hot chamomile tea that afternoon. It was exactly that time of day, at around twelve noon, that Sally would decide to do her daily observations of the neighborhood. Weller Avenue was usually a very peaceful, quiet town, but to her, some of the strangest people lived in the area…

As she sat on the porch, Mrs. Dunsworth, her next door neighbor, opened the door to her house, and walked out to the mailbox. She flipped through her mail, and suddenly realized that Sally was staring intently at what she was doing, watching her every move. Mrs. Dunsworth began to speed-walk towards her door, but Sally wasn't going to let her go anywhere without a conversation.

"Good afternoon, Mary!" she said, throwing a fake smile at her neighbor.

Mrs. Dunsworth froze in her tracks, and slowly turned around. "Oh, h-hello Sally," she said, nervously gazing at Sally.

"Isn't a beautiful day today?" Sally asked with fake enthusiasm, gesturing to the neighborhood decorated with bright autumn colors.

"Uh…y-yes, it is," Mrs. Dunsworth answered, slowly inching her way towards the door that was just a few feet away. "Well, um…I have to go Sally," she quickly said, resuming her fast pace towards the Sally wasn't going to let her get away that easily.

"So, any important mail you've got there?" she asked curiously.

"Oh, not really, just…you know, letters, bills…" Mrs. Dunsworth stopped in the middle of her sentence, quickly realized her mistake, and clamped a hand over her mouth.

Sally grinned, and took advantage of this moment. "Bills, huh? Still having difficulty paying those off?"

Mrs. Dunsworth winced, clearly hurt by Sally's comment; however she gained the courage to reply, "I am doing perfectly fine with my debts, thank you very much," but this only made matters worse for her.

"Oh, really Mary? Last I heard, the credit card company was hunting you and Alex down for the money you owed them." Sally giggled as she remembered the Dunsworth's dilemma. "And Alex's law firm heard about it, and they fired him!" She was now in a laughing fit, not caring if tears were falling from Mrs. Dunsworth's eyes. Mrs. Dunsworth ran back into the house, and slammed the door shut. Sally wiped the few tears out of her eyes from laughing so hard, and took another sip of her tea. "Oh, the Dunsworths," she sighed. "What losers."

She continued her scope of her neighborhood, and noticed that a man across the street opened the door to his home and stepped outside. But when he realized that Sally was sitting on her porch, he quickly ran back inside. Sally looked a bit offended by this. "What? Is he too _scared_ to talk to me?" she scoffed. Sally shrugged it off and said, "Well, he probably just doesn't want to admit that his daughter's too stupid to get into college." She took another sip of tea. "Anyone who's daughter wants become a professional at basketball must not be proud of it."

Suddenly, a large moving van drove down the street, and stopped in front of a house on the opposite side of the street. Sally watched with confusion as five men began removing furniture from the van and into the house, until realization finally hit her: "That's right! The McGuires moved out a few weeks ago! I wonder who's moving in…"

A few minutes later, a car came down the street and parked behind the moving van. A woman with gray hair stepped out of the driver's seat, and waved hello to the moving men. As she carried on a conversation with the men, Sally saw three young girls step out of the car. One was wearing a pink outfit with leggings, and immediately grabbed a small mirror out of her pocket and began fixing her auburn hair. Another with a brown, messy bun was wearing a blue turtleneck and purple skirt, and stared nervously at her sloppy, untied shoes, which made her glasses fall down to her nose. And a third girl was wearing a green dress and blonde pigtails, staring and smiling at the houses and colorful trees in her new neighborhood.

Sally sighed in confusion and disgust at her new neighbors. "Why would a woman like that be raising such young girls?" she inquired. She watched the family make their way into the house. "I guess I can't find anything out about them without talking to them." Sally took one last sip of her tea, placed it on the step she was sitting on, and made her way over to the house.

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**_Sorry about the really long section about Sally, but like I said, she plays a pretty big role in this story!_**

**_So, definetly click on that magical little green button at the bottom of the screen and tell me what you think! I'll update as soon as I can!_**

**_~leshawnaseville15 (^_^)_**


	2. Hatred at First Sight

**_Hey, everybody! Here's chapter two of my story! I know it's probably shorter than the first, but still tell me what you think!_**

**_Enjoy!_**

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"We're finally here!" Miss Miller exclaimed as she and the Chipettes walked into their brand new home. A collective gasp echoed throughout the house as the three girls realized the beauty of their new home.

"Oh…it's wonderful!" Eleanor exclaimed.

Miss Miller smiled. "Why don't you girls explore the house for a bit, while I go outside to help with the furniture?"

Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor ran towards the large marble staircase that led to the second floor. There were four separate bedrooms: one for Miss Miller, and one for each of the girls.

"Wow! I can't believe we finally get our own rooms!" Jeanette said.

Brittany suddenly went into each individual room, examining it closely. "This one's got a lot of room," she muttered as she walked into one. Her sisters watched in confusion as she strolled into another. "And this one's got a pretty good view of the town," she said, as she looked through the window. Jeanette and Eleanor looked at each other and shrugged as Brittany walked into a third room. "But this one's got a lot of closet space! And its own bathroom!" Brittany poked her head out of the door. "I call this room!" she yelled, and slammed the door shut. Jeanette and Eleanor could hear her jumping and laughing in the bedroom.

"Hey! Just because you're the oldest doesn't mean you get to choose the best room first!" Jeanette yelled through a small opening between the door and the floor.

Brittany poked her head through the door again. "Well, that one looks like a bigger room—"

"Yeah, by only about ten inches!"

"And that one's got a pretty good view of the neighborhood. Take your pick!" She slammed the door in her sisters' faces again. They sighed as they heard their sister jumping and chanting, "I've got the best room! I've got the best room!"

"She does know the room is practically empty, right?" Eleanor asked. Jeanette laughed, and the two girls decided to join Miss Miller outside, who was telling the moving men where to put the furniture.

"So, how do you like the house so far?" Miss Miller asked.

"It looks great! You didn't tell us we would get our own rooms!" Jeanette said.

Eleanor frowned. "Brittany definitely took it pretty well…"

Suddenly, a woman who looked to be around her forties was seen walking towards Miss Miller. Her red high-heeled shoes, matching bag and long blonde hair gave her a sense of super-model-superiority as she walked over.

"Um, Miss Miller? Who's that?" Eleanor asked as she pointed at the strange woman walking towards them.

"Oh, it's probably just one of our new neighbors, sweetie, don't worry about it…"

"Hello, neighbors!" The woman flashed her genuine fake-smile. "It's so nice to finally meet you! We've been waiting for a new family to move in since the McGuires left, and we are so glad to have you here!" She shook Miss Miller's hand furiously and pulled her into a big hug, as if they had been friends forever.

Miss Miller was thrown off by this act of kindness, and quickly pulled away. "It's great to, uh…be here," she said uncomfortably.

"My name is Sally Garrick. What's yours?" she asked, showing her exaggerated wide smile again.

"Well, my name's Beatrice Miller…"

"It is _so _nice to meet you Beatrice! I live across the street…" She suddenly gasped loudly… "And these must be your girls!" she said a little too enthusiastically as she glimpsed at Jeanette and Eleanor standing behind Miss Miller.

Eleanor gained the courage to shake Sally's hand. "Hi! I'm Eleanor, and this is my sister Jeanette. It's very nice to meet you," she said in her genuine sugar-coated voice.

Sally hesitated before shaking Eleanor's hand in return. There was something strange about the girl's voice that threw her off…"It's great to meet you too…" her voice trailed off again when she realized that the hand she was shaking was furry…and that Jeanette looked the exact same way…

Sally finished shaking hands with Eleanor, and quickly pulled out a bottle of Purell. Without even trying to conceal it, she wiped a few drops on her hands. Eleanor noticed, and slowly backed away. "Gee…what's her problem?"

"So, Beatrice," Sally continued as she turned her attention to Miss Miller again, "I was wondering if you would like to come over to my place for some tea, just to talk for a while? It would be a great way to get to know each other!"

"Can we come too?" Jeanette asked.

Sally looked at Jeanette with her fake smile again. "Oh, no sweetie, we'll just be talking about grown-up things. You wouldn't want to come." Jeanette could clearly see the disgust behind her sugar-coated voice, and looked down at her shoes again.

Miss Miller seemed happy by the offer. "I would love to come over for tea!"

"Really? Oh, that's great!" Sally took Miss Miller by the hand as she led her to her house across the street.

Jeanette and Eleanor stared at Sally on the opposite side of the street. "Why do you think she acted so strangely towards us? As if she was…disgusted?" Eleanor asked in confusion. Jeanette shrugged.

Brittany finally ran out of the house. "Miss Miller! Can we start moving the furniture into my room now? I've already picked it out!" She watched as Miss Miller was led by Sally into her home. "Who is that?" she asked.

"Some lady named Sally Garrick," said Eleanor. "I don't think she likes us very much."

Brittany watched as Sally's stiletto figure strut across the street with a strange sense of elegance. "Hmm…she seems nice…"

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**_Press the magical little green button down there and tell me what you think! I'll update soon, but I need more reviews._**

**_See ya next update!_**

**_~leshawnaseville15 (^_^)_**


	3. Corruption

**_A/N: Hey people! I meant to update this story yesterday, but unfortunately a He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named-ish browser hijacker gained world domination on my computer, and I couldn't do anything all day. But, finally, here's chapter 3!_**

**_Enjoy!_**

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Miss Miller held on for what seemed like her life as she was dragged across the street by Sally. She was tripping over her own two feet from walking so fast, the houses around her looked like a blur, and it felt as if the circulation was being cut off from her arm from how tightly Sally was grabbing it in excitement. Miss Miller found it strange that this woman, who only know her and the girls for a few minutes, was so happy and eager to invite her over for tea, was so excited to meet them that she was constantly hugging Miss Miller. Miss Miller smiled. It wasn't everyday that you ment a stranger this genuinely nice…

And yet, Miss Miller still had an odd feeling about Sally's attitude. Despite the warm smile, big hugs, and sugary voice, there was snother strange personality that lay below that, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She acted a bit differently towards the girls… '_Oh, stop it!' _Miss Miller thought to herself. _'You just met this person and you're already questioning her? She seems like a nice person…get to know her a little more.'_

"We're here!" Sally announced as she approached her front door. Miss Miller was so lost in her thoughts that she did not even realize that the two of them walked up the fromt porch to the door. "You'll absolutely love it here, Beatrice, I assure you!"

Sally slowly unlocked the front door and pushed it open. Miss Miller smiled as she observed the inside of Sally's house. It had the same rooms and space as her house—she could guess that all the homes on this block had the same layout—but it was the simplicity that made it so elegant. The walls were painted a very light pink, making the home seem very welcoming and relaxing. The capet in the living room was white, and looked very soft, and the white couches placed around it looked as if someone could sleep on them and be more comfortable than they would ever be on their own bed.

Sally smiled, knowing that Miss Miller was admiring her home. "I'll get the tea ready. You just make yourself comfortable in the living room." Sally removed her high-heeled shoes, placed them next to the carpet, and made her way into the kitchen. Miss Miller took that as a hint to do the same, and sat on one of the soft, comfortable couches. She noticed that there were many vases with flowers placed around the home, and gave it a sweet smell. She looked over to a small table in the center of the living room, and started to look at the multiple pictures frames it was decorated with. There was a large picture of Sally's family that immediately cought her eye. In it were two men that she assumed were her husband and som, hugging Sally. Miss Miller smiled at how happy the family seemed in that picture. Whatever made Sally so happy was probably the loving family she had, the same way Miss Miller loved Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor.

Sally walked out of the kitchen with a large tray with a teapot and two procelain cups. "Hope you like camomile tea!"

Miss Miller looked up from the picture. "I absolutely love camomile tea, thank you," she said. "And thank you so much for inviting me over, Sally."

"It's no problem at all, Beatrice. What are neighbors for?" Sally placed the tray on the table in fromt of them. She flinched slightly when she noticed the picture Miss Miller was looking at.

Miss Miller saw her with a strange look on her face. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to touch all of your things," she said, placing the picture back on the table.

"No, no, it's perfectly fine," Sally said, plopping herself down on the couch next to Miss Miller. She smiled at the picture. "That's my husband on the right, and my som on the left," pointing at the older and younger men smiling and hugging her. "We all went fishing about a year ago in August, for my son's eighteenth birthday. It was so much fun," she continued, her smile growing wider as she remembered the joy she had that day. "They pushed me into the lake, and I was soaking wet!" She and Miss Miller laughed together. Suddenly, Sally's smile faded. "But then, that night…" She sighed as the she recalled the events that happened when they got home…what she found out…and what she decided to do about it…

Miss Miller noticed the sad look on Sally's face. "What happened?"

Sally snapped out of her thoughts. "Oh, he had to go off to college the next day," she said, flashing a fake sad smile. "He just grew up so fast…"

"Oh, Sally," Miss Miller said, giving her a big hug. "Does he come to visit often?"

"Not really…most of the time me and my husband visit him," she daid, her face clouding again. She replaced it with her fake smile, poured a cup of tea for Miss Miller, and changed the subject to the information she really wanted to know. "So, enough about me, tell me about yourself and your family."

Miss Miller took a sip of her tea and smiled. "Well, I've been living for as long as I can remember with my three girls-"

"That's right, Jeanette, Eleanor, and…who's the third?"

"Her name is Brittany, the oldest."

"You have three wonderful girls, Beatrice," Sally said. She poured a cup for herself and took a sip. "Do they have a father?"

"No, they don't. They're actually adoptive. They used to live in an orphanage in Australia." Miss Miller suddered at the thought of the orphanage. "Terrible place to be."

"Adopted, huh?" Sally took in this information. '_Weird skin, adopted…there's something strange about them, I know it…'_ "So, do they have any talents, past-times? What do they like to do?" she asked, keeping the conversation going.

"Oh, they all have their individual hobbies, but they love to sing! They have beautiful voices."

Finally, Sally couldn't help but ask what was on her mind. "When I met your girls, I noticed soemthing, uh..different about them. I can't help but ask, but…do they have _fur?_"

Miss Miller chuckled. "Of course they do, Sally," she said. "They're chipmunks—"

Sally did a spit-take with her tea.

"They're _what?_"

Miss Miller was suddenly scared of Sally. '_Why did she react so strangely… ?'_

"YOU'RE RAISING CHIPMUNKS?!?" Sally yelled, making Miss Miller flinch. "You're raising talking _chipmunks?!_" She jumped out of her seat and pushed Miss Miller to the floor. "Get out. GET OUT!"

Miss Miller staggered back to her feet. "Sally…what's wrong?"

"Oh, don't you 'Sally' me! Anyone who decides to raise _rodents _is an insane freak! Why am I even near you? GET OUT!"

Miss Miller quickly opened the front door and ran outside. Sally stuck her head out the door and yelled at her. "You don't belong here! Why don't you just take your big, fat butt and you rabid chipmunks back to where you came from?"

Miss Miller heard the door behind her slam shut. She slowly made her way across the street, and cried.

***

Mrs. Dunsworth was reading a book on her couch when she heard loud screaming coming from Sally Garrick's house. She looked outside her window to see an older woman slowly walking down the street, crying. Her heart was suddenly hit with pain and sadness as she watched her cry. Mrs. Dunsworth shook her head. "Only been in the town for a day, and she's already been corrupted…"

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**_It's strange how even I hate these characters as I write. Alright, there you go! Please review!!!_**

**_~leshawnaseville15 (^_^)_**


	4. Behind The Covers

**_A/N: Wow...it's been a while since I've updated! Like I said before, my computer is plotting against me, so it deleted all my files...and I've been trying to write at school, which isn't easy..._**

**_BUT ANYWAY!_**

**_Thanks to everyone who reviewed my story eons ago! Chapter 4 is finally up! And I get to introduce...*drum roll please*...a new character! So watch out for this one too._**

**_ENJOY!_**

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Miss Miller slowly walked across the opposite side of the street as she wiped away the tears that constantly fell from her eyes. The events that occured at Sally's house was the most painful incident Miss Miller had ever gone through. She seemed so nice...her wide, flashy smle, her warm hugs, the way she talked to her, even offered to bring her into her own home...it was all just an act, all just a lie. Miss Miller tried to forget everything that happened just a few moments ago, but Sally's words kept coming back...

"_YOU'RE RAISING CHIPMUNKS?"_

"There's nothing wrong in doing it; there's nothing wrong with them," she heard herself say out loud. Her words were so painful...

_"Anyone who decides to raise _rodents_ is an insane freak!"_

Each syllable was like a part of her being ripped to shreds. As she reached the trunk of the large tree right in front of her new home, she felt herself crumble to the ground. She held her head in her hands, and her body shook from sobbing. "There's nothing wrong with it...there's nothing wrong with it..." Suddenly, she felt as if she wasn't trying to convince Sally's voice, but that she was trying to convince herself. Did everyone she knew see it as something horrible, unnatural? She never questioned her decision to do it until now...was it the wrong thing to do?

It took Miss Miller a few minutes before she stood up again and made her way to the front door. She was about to open the door when she remembered her tear-stained face; the girls would immediately know something was wrong. She quickly wiped her face as best as she could, and rubbed the tears and any redness out of her eyes. She opened the door to find Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor all in the living room. Jeanette was trying to teach Eleanor how to play chess, while Brittany was frantically combing and brushing her hair in front of a mirror.

"How could you two possibly care about that stupid game?" Brittany asked, annoyed. "There are much more important things in life..._like my hair!_ It's always such a mess!"

Jeanette sighed, and Eleanor rolled her eyes at Brittany's attitude. She turned back to the game in front of her, and moved her pawn. "Check mate! I win, finally!"

Jeanette groaned as she looked at where her sister had moved. "Ellie! Pawns can't move that far! They can only move _one_ space at a time!"

Eleanor frowned as Jeanette moved her piece back. "No fair...you're better at this than I am..." She turned her attention towards the door, and was the first to realize that Miss Miller had finally returned home. "Miss Miller! You're back!" She quickly abandoned the game and ran to give Miss Miller a hug. Eleanor's hug seemed to spread warmth throughout Miss Miller's body, and as she looked into her big, brown eyes, and tightly hugged Eleanor back, she realized that these girls were her entire life. No matter what anyone would say or do, she loved them and needed them...no one was ever going to change that.

"Umm...how was your trip to...Sally's house?" Jeanette asked. Eleanor worriedly looked up at Miss Miller, and remembered how strangely Sally had acted towards her and Jeanette earlier that day; clearly something had to go wrong with her and Miss Miller...

Miss Miller slightly frowned at Jeanette's question. _'They can't know about her just yet,'_ Miss Miller thought. _'They would be better off not knowing about Sally. It would just hurt them so much..."_ So she smiled brightly at Jeanette and said, "It was perfectly fine! We just talked for a little while, that's all." She quickly made her way into the kitchen, and changed the subject. "Now, who wants dinner? I'm sure you're all starving!"

Eleanor's mind completely shifted from thoughts about Sally, and smiled at the mention of food. She ran into the kitchen right behind Miss Miller. "So, what's for dinner?"

Jeanette was completely confused by what Miss Miller had just told them. A wonderful time with Sally Garrick? From what she had seen of their neighbor, Sally had trouble written all over her. Brittany saw the expression on Jeanette's face and smiled. "You see? I was right the whole time! There's nothing wrong with that Sally lady! You thought she was all mean, just because she wore those really fancy high-heeled shoes and had pretty hair! What ever happened to 'don't judge a book by it's cover', Jeanette?" Brittany skipped away happily, content with knowing that she was right, that she was _always_ right.

Jeanette watched as Eleanor and Brittany helped Miss Miller with dinner. Miss Miller's laugh and smile seemed to be hiding something, just like Sally. "You don't understand, Brittany," Jeanette whispered to herself. "It's what the cover is hiding that doesn't seem right..."

***

Richard Garrick gave off an exasperated sigh as he finally pulled out of the hospital parking lot to return home. He had a hectic, painful day on the unit, and being the manager automatically made thing difficult to handle. Richard just looked forward to plopping himself down on the couch, putting his feet up on the table, and watching TV. Nothing but peace and quiet...

He suddenly realized that working at the hospital had its perks. The fifteen-hour days did mean more time slaving over the health of patients whom everyone knew would die at any second, but it also meant less time spent with Sally. The minute Richard got home his ears would bleed from Sally's nagging voice, complaining either about the neighbors, or some fault she found in him if she had nothing to say about anyone else.

Why did he even marry her in the first place? Richard tried to remember a time when Sally's voice wasn't dripping in sarcasm or hatred, a time when what other people did or wore never crossed her mind. He tried to remember when she had a genuine face, before she discovered the "beauty" of covering her face with makeup to the point where she looked like a clown. But that time was so distant, and was replaced by a nagging, annoying, and psycho Sally. Could he call it senility? She was only in her forties, but by the way she acted, she could be freaking seventy...

Which brought Richard back to the events that occured on the unit that day...

_"Doctor Garrick, Anderson wants to see you."_

_Richard walked onto the unit that morning with the usual greeting from one of his nurses. All of the patients were annoying, but Anderson had to be the worst. He had been on the unit for at least three years, and always had something to complain about: his bed was too uncomfortable, the TV in his room was too bright. He hated how the nurses checked on him too often, and he hated how the nurses didn't check up on him often enough. Eventually the nurses got tired of him, and sent his complaints to the doctors instead. How were the nurses able to cope with him for three freaking years? Richard had only looked after Anderson for two weeks, and he was already going insane!_

_"What does he want now?" Richard asked, clearly pissed._

_"It's only for his dosage of medicine, Garrick, it won't take long."_

_Richard sighed...this was reasonable. "Alright, what's he on?"_

_"Anderson is taking Heparin, doctor."_

_"Hmm, Heparin...I've never heard of that one before..."_

_"Well, you should. Look it up and give it to him, immediately."_

_Richard quickly looked up the medicine on a nearby computer. "Heparin...used to prevent blood clotting, dosage is given by injection, blah blah blah, the slightest overdosage is...lethal..." A smile slowly started to spread on Richard's face. Without even stopping to think, he rushed into Anderson's room. Fortunately for him, Anderson was asleep on his bed, and the only noise coming from his room was the continual beeping of the cardiac monitor near his bed. _

_Richard picked up the syringe already on a table next to Anderson's bed, and without even bothering to read the required dosage, he filled the syringe completely, and injected the medicine into his left arm. It only took a few seconds for the patient's breathing to become heavier, and the beeping became faster and louder. Richard walked out of the room and into his office before things got any worse. "Goodbye, Anderson..."_

_As the raspy scream for help and the long, continuous beep of the cardiac monitor echoed throughout the unit, and doctors and nurses ran to Anderson's room in panic, Richard closed the door behind him, and smiled..._

_Sally was rubbing off on him in the strangest ways..._

_

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_

**_I'd like to thank 'Angels and Demons', which was written by Dan Brown, for introducing to me the insane idea of adding Heparin to this chapter! I think it seemed pretty legit for me to add..._**

**_Well, what do you think? Let's make a deal...If I get at least 5 reviews, I'll try to update ASAP!_**

**_~leshawnaseville15 (^_^)_**


	5. Whatever It Takes

**_A/N: Hey guys! I know, that wasn't exactly ASAP...but I'm back! Thanks again for all the really great reviews. I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!_**

**_Here's chapter five! This chapter only involves the Garricks (sorry guys) but it might explain some things. And you're probably all wondering when the heck Alvin, Simon, Theodore, and Dave will come back into the story. Patience, my friends...patience...in time they will come..._**

**_ENJOY!_**

**_

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Sally resumed sitting at her usual spot on the porch. Her usual cup of chamomile tea was in her hand, vigorously vibrating with anger. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't get her mind off of her meeting with Miss Miller. Everything about her was wrong, all wrong: the way she dressed, the way she put her hair up in that strange up-do. And her girls...a cold shudder went down her spine as she thought about the three of them. Miss Miller was clearly insane! What exactly was she thinking when she decided to raise_ chipmunks?_ Then again, what was _she _thinking when she decided to invite her over for tea? She knew Miss Miller was stupid from the start! "That no good, senile, dirty, rabies-infested--OW!"

Sally's hot, steaming tea fell onto her leg from shaking so much. She sighed as she tried her best to wipe her pants. She glared as she took a quick glance at the Miller household farther down the street. "That one over there needs to leave...they better..."

A loud, piercing scream broke her from her thoughts. An elderly woman was running as fast as her old legs could take her, sobbing loudly. As she got closer to Sally's house, she realized that Sally was sitting on the porch and ran towards her.

Before she could say anything, the woman collapsed onto Sally, crying on her shoulder. She tried to push her off, but the woman wouldn't budge. Sally tried to speak over her loud sobbing, with the best sugary-coated voice she could muster.

"Umm...Mrs. Anderson? What's wrong?"

Mrs. Anderson finally picked her head up from Sally's shoulder, and looked up at her with red eyes, spilling with tears. "M-my...my husband...h-he's...gone..."She burst into another round of tears, and fell back onto Sally's shoulder.

Sally completely forgot that Mr. Anderson had been at the local hospital where Richard worked for such a long time. But why couldn't she just GET OFF HER? "Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry. How did this happen? I thought he was recovering."

"He was...but the hospital called me and said that he was..." Mrs. Anderson tried as hard as she could to say the word. "...poisoned," she finally choked out.

Sally was actually shocked by this. "Oh my...how?"

"He was overdosed with his medicine..." Mrs. Anderson now fell onto Sally's lap. Disgusted as she was, Sally tried her best to comfort her by rubbing her back.

Something like this couldn't have been done by accident; no one liked Anderson very much at all. In fact, Richard himself hated him, and had been complaining about Anderson for weeks on end. Ever since the nurses got fed up with him and handed him over to Richard, he's wanted Anderson dead...

Someone was going to confess once they got home...

***

After a long, painful drive, Richard finally pulled into the driveway of his home. At this point in his relationship with Sally, he was ready to expect the unexpected once he opened the door. And, just as he expected, he opened the door and found Sally sitting on the couch, her arms crossed. He sighed. _"I wonder what the devil has to talk about today..."_

Sally glared at Richard as he walked in. "You're late..."

Richard closed the door behind him. "It's great to see you too."

Sally continued to glare at Richard as he walked over to the hallway closet, intent on getting what she wanted to hear from him. Richard could almost feel her gaze burning into him. _"Did she already know?"_

"Why are you so late?" she asked. "Normally you're not home this late...unless something drastic happens on the unit." Richard stopped in his tracks as she made her final point. _"Yep...she knows." _Sally smirked. "You'd better tell me what's going on..."

Richard sighed. "Look, I just had a rough day at work, okay?" he said, trying to sound convincing. Sally arched an eyebrow--she wasn't buying it. He decided to quickly change the subject. "And by the looks of it, I can tell you had a pretty crappy day yourself."

Sally frowned, remembering what had happened just a few hours ago. "You'll never believe what I found out today..."

"What is it this time?" he said, playfully going along with his wife's daily complaints. "Are you mad that the Dunsworths are finally getting out of financial trouble? Did someone put three spoonfuls of sugar instead of two in you coffee and now you'll hate them for the rest of your life?"

Sally glared at him again, but tried her best to ignore his sarcasm. "You remember the McGuire's, right?"

"Of course I do." _"They were the only family on this block that didn't let Sally drive them insane...and before she could, they left." _"They used to live a couple of houses away across the street and moved out a few weeks ago, right?"

"Yes, they did...and got replaced by Beatrice Miller..." Sally spit out her name as if she were some kind of terrible disease. She shuddered, as if the thought of whoever she was talking about made her sick. "She is truly the most disgusting, horrible person I've ever met."

Richard shrugged. _"The usual..." _It was already annoying enough that she hated a person the minute she laid her eyes on them." Well, what did she ever do to you?"

"She didn't do anything to _me_. It's what she does that's so...it's so unnatural, Richard, it's so...irritating."

Richard noticed that Sally's hands had started to clench up into fists as she spoke. "_Wow...she must really hate this person, but...why?" "_If she's new in the neighborhood, why exactly are you already ticked off by her? What exactly would that woman ever do that would make you feel this way?"

Sally suddenly glared at him again and yelled in his face. "How do you _think_ I'd feel about a senile woman with three kids who sound like freaking Chip and Dale? She's raising _chipmunks_, Richard! Chip--munks!"

It took a few seconds for what she said to fully sink into Richard's brain. Did Sally just hit a new level of insanity? Or was she serious? "Wait...what? Chipmunks? As in, those small, furry little rodent things?"

"Yes, Richard, Miss Miller is raising living, breathing chipmunks! Sure, they kinda look human, and act human, and...dress normally...but they're _not _human! They're still chipmunks! That woman is probably infected with rabies, or has some strange chipmunk disease. And what's worse? I actually decided to let her stay at my house for a while." Sally suddenly gasped. "Oh, _crap!_ Our furniture is probably covered with disgusting germs from her! Our whole entire house might be infected!" She promptly ran into the basement, and came back with disinfectant spray.

Richard watched Sally in disbelief and disgust as she sprayed the couches, the pictures, the walls...herself. He shook his head. "You know what Sally? I can't believe you."

Sally stopped spraying. "What do you mean?"

"I can't believe that you can hate a person so easily, just for being different or doing what they want to do. To the point where you'll do anything to hurt them, or get rid of them. You're _insane..._you know that?"

Sally stared at him with anger. "Oh, well you're one to talk! You killed a patient! How long did you know Anderson, Richard? A few weeks?"

"Anderson was on the verge of death! I did him a favor!" Richard was suddenly furious. "And what are you gonna do? _Kill _Miss Miller because she's raising chipmunks? She doesn't deserve to get hurt!"

"She's different, Richard! She would deserve it!"

"Did _Josh _deserve it?!"

The atmosphere suddenly became awkwardly quiet. Sally walked over to the small table in the living room and picked up the picture Miss Miller had looked at earlier that day, the one that was taken when she, Richard, and...Josh...decided to go fishing.

_It was the day before Josh was supposed to go to college. Much later that night, while doing some last minute packing in the living room, Josh had told Sally a secret he had kept inside for years...and felt that it was the right time to let his parents know..._

_"Mom...I'm gay."_

_Sally refused to accept those words. To her, it wasn't normal... she couldn't possibly have a son like this! She was furious. And in her fury, she grabbed the closest kitchen knife...and got rid of him._

"Sally?" Richard said, removing Sally from her memories.

Sally slowly looked up from the picture. "Josh is gone...that doesn't matter anymore. What matters right now is that Miss Miller is here...and I want her gone...whatever it takes." She threw the picture frame onto the couch, and stormed away.

Richard slowly picked up the frame, and stared into a pair of happy, mud-brown eyes that he wished he could see again...that he loved so much...that had been taken away from him.

He hugged the picture tightly to his chest, his eyes brimming with tears. "Oh, Josh...I'm so sorry..."

* * *

_**This chapter was actually really painful for me to write, especially the reason why Sally killed her own son...is it strange for writers to cry?**_

**_Please review, and I promise that the next chapter will involve the Chipettes! _**

**_~leshawnaseville15 (^_^)_**


	6. Things Fall Apart

_**A/N: Hey people! I'm back! Sorry it took a while for me to update...again...but it's here! Finally!**_

**_So, I finally figured out the outline for the rest of this story: the first five chapters took place in the fall. I know its mention was very subtle in the first chapter, so I apologize for that! The next group of chapters will be in the winter, and after that, they will take place in the spring. It's been a few months since the Chipettes moved in, and I'd say it is now...late November? You can decide._**

**_ENJOY!_**

* * *

Miss Miller forced herself to wake up and roll out of bed. She took a quick glance at the clock, and saw that it was seven o' clock; time for her day to start. Miss Miller got up and stared outside her window to the neighborhood. The sky was completely gray, which was pretty common for this time of year. The growing cold in the air and the dry, crusty leaves littering the sidewalks made the neighborhood seem even more gloomy than it already was to her. But she gathered her energy nonetheless, got dressed, and made her way out of the bedroom.

Miss Miller decided to make sure the girls were okay and safe in their beds before heading out. She walked into Jeanette's room first, feeling calmer because of the soft, welcoming color of her purple room. Jeanette had accidentally fallen asleep with her glasses on, and now they were all bent and askew on her face. Miss Miller gently took them off, bent them back into place, and placed them on Jeanette's desk. She slowly walked out of her room, so she would not wake her up, and went into Brittany's room.

Brittany was curled up on her bed, snoring softly. On closer examination, Miss Miller realized that an object lying a few inches away from her arms was..._An Alvin doll? Where on earth did she get that? _Suddenly, Miss Miller remembered the time when Alvin, Simon, and Theodore had lied to her so that they and the Chipettes could go on a race around the world, not knowing they were smuggling diamonds in dolls of themselves. Miss Miller smiled. _Sure, the girls got me mad, but they only wanted to have some fun._ She placed the doll back into Brittany's arms, and smiled as Brittany hugged the doll in her sleep. Miss Miller pulled the covers to keep Brittany warm, and walked out.

When Miss Miller went into Eleanor's room, she was already awake, brushing her blonde hair and putting it into two pigtails. She flashed her a warm smile. "Good morning, Miss Miller!" she said cheerfully.

"Good morning, dear. Why are you up so early?" Miss Miller asked.

"I wanted to make breakfast for everyone. I figured you would be tired, and you always do everything for me and Brittany and Jeanette. So, I decided to help out today."

Miss Miller smiled widely. "Sweetie, that's so nice of you to help me! But you don't need to do this. I'm pretty sure you're very tired too, and I'm going to the grocery to buy some food for breakfast anyway. I'll make it when I get back. You just go back to sleep and get your rest."

"Okay." Eleanor quickly hugged Miss Miller, and went back to bed. As soon as Miss Miller closed the door to her bedroom, she heard Eleanor softly snoring.

These girls were her entire world; the were truly the greatest daughters a woman could ask for.

Of course, there were _certain _women that just would never understand Miss Miller's happiness.

Women like Sally.

Women like Sally who would never accept anything she did not understand.

It had been a few months since that horrible visit with Sally. Luckily, there had not been many interactions between the two of them, but Miss Miller knew that Sally would never let it go. Occasional glances through the window in the living room showed Sally sitting in her usual spot on her porch, staring at their house. Not mumuring a single word, or throwing something at the window, just... staring. And when Miss Miller left the house for occasional trips to the shopping mall, or the grocery, or wherever she was headed, Sally would glare at her as she walked down the street. She would not say anything, she would not make any comments, but only glare. It was a good thing looks can't kill...

And sure enough, as Miss Miller closed the door behind her and began her walk down the street, she saw Sally sitting on the porch again. Her eyes were burning with anger; they felt like daggers destroying her. As she approached closer to Sally's porch, she heard, for the first time in a few months, words uttered from Sally's mouth.

"Miller."

"Garrick," she responded, without even stopping or looking at her.

"Still raising those rabid chipmunks, Miller?" Sally sneered.

Miss Miller did not even bother to answer her, and continued walking by. _Show your dignity, Beatrice...she can't put you down._

Sally became irritated. "You'd better talk, Miller. Just because you don't doesn't mean you're no longer an _idiot._"

Still no answer came from her mouth.

"You know what?" Sally exploded. "You can just go die in a fire! Go to hell and burn your fat ass off. Those _rats_ of yours can go play in freaking traffic!"

Miss Miller was not at the corner of the road, crossing the street.

"HOW DARE YOU IGNORE ME!"

Miss Miller was completely out of Sally's sight. "How dare she ignore me!" she yelled. "What she's raising is already bad enough, but...ugh, the _nerve_!"

All these months Sally had spent just staring at that house, at Miss Miller, made her furious. Miss Miller had to pay for her mistake. She wanted them gone; she had to do something.

And that's when she realized that Miss Miller was actually out of the house.

A huge, evil grin slowly spread on her face as ideas starting running through her head and she made her way towards the Miller household. She figured that the door would be locked, so she pulled out a credit card. _Well, if it works in the movies, it's gotta work here._ Sally put a hand to the doorknob, and...the door opened. Miss Miller had left the door unlocked. Big mistake...

She slowly walked inside the house. The layout of the house looked exactly like Sally's. The house was strangely quiet, and seemed completely empty. _This is just too easy. Wait...the chipmunks._ Their bedrooms had to be upstairs, so Sally went carefully made her way up.

Jeanette's room just happened to be the closest to the stairs. Sally walked in, immediately disgusted by seeing her soundly sleeping on her bed. She walked around the room, observing the papers lying on Jeanette's desk, the scattered experiments and chemicals on the floor..._Clearly a nerd. _The first thing she saw that stood out to her was Jeanette's pair of glasses. Sally picked it up from the desk where it lay, placed it on the ground, and stepped on it. The crunching sound below her feet was so satisfying._ Let's see how the little rat feels about being blind for a while..._

Sally crept into Brittany's room across the hall, and saw her curled up on her bed, still hugging her stuffed doll. She picked it up and saw that it was a chipmunk, just like Brittany. _Aww, the little rat's got a boyfriend! How...disgusting._ Sally easily ripped off the head of the doll, took out most of its stuffing, and threw it on the ground. Searching for more damage, she noticed a pair of scissors lying on Brittany's desk. Sally knew that Brittany loved her hair more than anything else, and decided to put it to use. _Such pretty, long hair...you're gonna have to learn the hard way not to fuss about it so much..._

Eleanor's room was right next door. It was hard for Sally to figure out what to do, but when she saw Eleanor's favorite signature green dress and the scissor in her hand, she tore it up as best as she could. Her cookbooks on her bookshelf were ripped, completely destroyed.

Sally walked down the stairs, satisfied with what she had just done. But she felt as if she could do so much more to their home. _Alright Sally, time to improvise..._

The kitchen was her first stop. She opened all of the juice and milk containers and spilled them onto the floor, as well as all their other foods. She joyfully broke all of the plates in their cabinets--it was surprising that the girls did not wake up after the loud crashes. She turned on the kitchen sink, plugged the drain, and let the water flow.

With the sharp scissor in her hand, she made as many holes and rips as she could on the sofas in the living room. Vases were broken, the flowering tops of red roses cut off and strewn across the floor.

_And now, for the final touch..._ Sally took a stick of red lipstick out of her pocket and made her way towards the large mirror in the hallway. She laughed maniacally as she scribbled all over the mirror.

Sally took a step back from her destruction and smiled...it was truly a maniacal work of art. She strode out the front door, and left the house. The only down side to her day was that she wouldn't be able to see the look on Miss Miller's face...

***

Brittany finally woke up a few hours later, with a big smile on her face; it was going to be a great day having fun with her sisters. She yawned and reached for the doll she had placed next to her the night before...but it wasn't there. She started searching frantically all over her bed, underneath, on the floor for what she loved most. _Alvin? Where are you?_

Suddenly, her hand touched something soft. Brittany reached for it, and realized that it was a piece of fluffy stuffing. Lying right next to it was her Alvin doll, ripped and lifeless. Tears slowly started filling her eyes, but she tried her best not to think about it...about him.

Brittany decided to start her daily morning routine of brushing her long, auburn hair. She didn't even need a mirror to do it today; her hair would always fall perfectly into place. As she combed her fingers through her hair, she realized that her hair was barely falling past her neck. Brittany quickly ran towards her mirror...and an earpiercing scream echoed throughout the house.

Jeanette woke up with a start. "Brittany! What's wrong?" She frantically began to search for her glasses. Jeanette figured they would be on her desk, but she stepped on a piece of glass that left a large cut on her foot. She winced, and squinted as hard as she could to see what it was, and saw the faint outline of her glasses. "Oh, no..."

Eleanor rushed into Brittany's room, and found her sitting on her bed, crying. She had put on a sweater with the hood pulled over her head, and was cradling a ripped object in her hands. Eleanor realized that it was Brittany's Alvin doll, and felt a pang of sadness in her heart. "Oh, Brittany...I'm so sorry."

Brittany looked at Eleanor with red, swollen eyes, and her hood fell from around her face. Eleanor gasped as she saw Brittany's hair. "Brittany! Who did this?"

"I don't know," Brittany said, and burst into tears again.

Jeanette stumbled into Brittany's bedroom with her hands on the wall, guiding her down the hallway. She tried squinting to see her sisters. "What's wrong?"

"Someome completely destroyed Brittany's hair!" Eleanor replied, furious. "And Jeanette? Where are your glasses?"

"I found them broken to pieces on my floor, and it even cut my foot."

"Jeanette, you shouldn't be walking around with a cut on your foot! I'll get a bandage for you." Eleanor went into her room again, and noticed the mess she had not seen earlier. "My cookbooks! They're...destroyed." Eleanor felt tears form in her eyes as she saw the pages all over the floor. She went into her closet to get the bandage for Jeanette, but realized that her favorite green dress was all ripped. Eleanor was furious. _Who could have done this?_

When the girls decided to go downstairs for breakfast, they stopped dead in their tracks. Not only were their personal items destroyed, but the whole house--the kitchen, the living room, everything--was horrific.

The front door suddenly swung open, and Miss Miller walked in with multiple bags of groceries. "Hello girls! "I'm ba--" Miss Miller's eyes widened in shock as she saw the ripped furniture, the overflowing sink, the broken plates...the broken hearts of her girls. Their eyes filled with tears, Jeanette's squinting eyes, Brittany's sloppily cut short hair, pieces of paper drifting from the staircase that looked like the pages from Eleanor's favorite books...

Brittany ran to Miss Miller and hugged her, sobbing fresh tears into her shirt. Miss Miller hugged her tightly as her eyes wandered to the hallway mirror. Miss Miller became furious as three short words immediately told her exactly who did this:

'GO HOME RATS' was written in clear, bold letters with Sally's signature cherry red lipstick.

She quickly picked up the phone, and called Sally's house number. In just a few seconds, Sally had answered her phone. "Hello, this is the Garrick residence, Sally Garrick speaking. Who is this?"

Sally's fake sweet tone made Miss Miller absolutely sick. "You know pretty well who this is," Miss Miller answered bitterly.

"Well, I'm pretty damn sure I _don't_."

"How could you do this to us? You destroyed my house. You touched my children. You destroyed my daughter's rooms! How dare you? You are sickening!"

Sally's voice laughed at the other end of the line. "Oh, don't worry, Miller...the fun's not over yet. You've got a choice. Either leave now, or...just you wait..." She hung up the phone.

Miss Miller felt numb and dull as she slowly put the phone down, Sally's voice loudly ringing in her ears. She looked into the eyes of her girls, and saw their lives slowly falling apart right in front of her. She brought then close into a large hug, and never wanted to let them go.

* * *

_**You know how much reviews make me really happy! Tell me what you think! **_**_Also, check out my profile for a new poll I've had for a little bit. _**

**_Again, at least 5 reviews, and this time I promise...ASAP! See you guys next update!_**

**_~leshawnaseville15 (^_^)_**


	7. You Make Me Smile

**_A/N: Okay, you must admit: this is the fastest I've ever updated in months! SUCCESS! This is probably just because I've been on spring break for the past week now. All your reviews made me really happy. Thanks guys!_**

**_Here is chapter seven, and...well, I hope you guys like it! I decided to base some of this chapter off a new song that I like. It's called 'Smile' by Uncle Kracker. I'm going to assume that most of you have already heard it, because it's pretty overplayed on the radio, but here's the link if you want to listen to it on youtube!_**

**_/watch?v=ffej15-Dgl0_**

**_Also, just as a little side note: Please alert me on any grammatical errors in this chapter, because the spellcheck on my new computer isn't set up yet. Also, this (--) means there is a change in location, and this (***) means there is a change in time (which you guys already knew since I've used this for every single chapter)._**

**_ENJOY!_**

* * *

Brittany leaned against her bedroom wall, staring blankly outside her window. It was nine o' clock, and the neighborhood was covered with a pitch black sky. The only sources of light came from a few scattered streetlamps between some of the houses, which constantly flickered. Most of the neighbors were already asleep, seeing as the lights in their houses were out, but the lights in Sally's house were still on.

A tear trickled down her already tear-stained face. All this time, Brittany did not think much about Sally. She thought she was just a kind neighbor, that Jeanette and Eleanor were just overreacting. Miss Miller had probably kept Sally's hatred a secret from her all this time. And now, everything was destroyed...

Brittany moved away from the window and looked at the mirror. She was still wearing her dark gray hoodie from earlier that day, but now she wore dark blue baggy jeans to go with it--she was too depressed to accessorize. Brittany lifted her hood away from her face, and held back a sob. Her once long, beautiful auburn hair was still cut off, and now fell at odd, short, uneven angles around her face. And it was all_ Sally's_ fault...

Her eyes drifted to her Alvin doll behind her. It was far beyond repair, and now its bits and pieces of fluff and material were placed onto Brittany's pillow. She gently picked up what was left of its red sweater, and watched as a tiny teardrop stained its signature yellow 'A' right in the center. The doll would have probably been the one thing that would cheer her up during this terrible day, but now it was gone. Even though the Sevilles lived in the next town, it seemed like they were light-years away.

Brittany needed someone else to talk to other than her sisters or Miss Miller. Someone who doulc finally cheer her up, or at least try to anyway. Someone who had been there for her, understood her, from day one.

She carefully inched her way down the stairs in the darkness, and picked up the phone. Before she could even think twice about what she was doing, the ringtone started. Brittany panicked. _Why am I even calling so late? What do I do if they don't pick up? What if he doesn't want to talk to me?_

Before she could hang up the phone in panic, a tired, familiar voice picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Alvin? Hi, it's Brittany," she whispered.

"Brittany? Why are you calling so late?"

Brittany sighed. "I just...needed someone to talk to. I--" Brittany hesitated. _This is probably going to sound so weird..._ "I missed you."

She could almost hear Alvin smirk over the phone. "Oh, _really?_ You couldn't stop thinking about me, could you? Just admit it, Brittany; I'm irresistible! And _you know it_!"

Brittany frowned. "Ugh, I can't believe you! I shouldn't have called," she said, exasperated.

"Wait, wait, wait! Brittany, don't hang up! Don't hang up!" Alvin cried desperately.

She slowly put the phone back to her ear. "What?" she spat.

Alvin sighed. "I missed you too."

A smile slowly spread onto Brittany's face. "And I bet you couldn't stop thinking about me, because you think I'm irresistible," she mocked. She reached up a hand to flip her hair, but remembered how short it was and tried her best to hold back her resurfacing tears.

"Oh ha-ha, very funny," Alvin sneered. "So, um, how's life in your new neighborhood?"

Brittany held back tears again. "It could be better, I guess..."

"Well, what's wrong?"

Brittany sighed. "The neighborhood is pretty and all, and I love our house...but one of our neighbors doesn't like us at all," she said, touching her hair again. "I mean, I know _I'm _perfect, but--" She stopped herself from going any further. Brittany couldn't tell him why Sally hated them; it would be too offensive.

"But what?" Alvin asked.

"She just doesn't like us very much, that's all."

"Well, why don't you tell me more about it tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? What does tomorrow have to do with anything?"

"Dave said we could come over to your place tomorrow afternoon," Alvin said. "Miss Miller called today and said that you guys needed help cleaning up the house. Did you not finish packing or something?"

Tears threatened to spill out of Brittany's eyes again. "I'll explain it all tomorrow."

"I guess we should get to bed, then," said Alvin. "I wouldn't want Dave to find me on the phone so late. He'd explode," he chuckled.

Brittany laughed. "Yeah, I guess I don't want Miss Miller seeing me up so late either," she said. "Well...bye Alvin."

"Wait, Brittany?"

She put the phone back to her ear again. "Yeah?"

"It was great to hear your voice again."

Brittany smiled. "Bye Alvin."

"Bye Britt."

Brittany hung up the phone and carefully made her way back upstairs to her bedroom. She flung herself onto her bed, and picked up the remains of her doll's red sweater. She hugged it tightly to her chest and smiled. _So, Alvin missed me too..._ Without even bothering to change into pajamas, she turned off the lights and fell asleep, the red sweater still in her hand.

---

Alvin slowly put the phone down on the receiver and quietly tiptoed back into his bed. He put his arms behind his head and smiled. _Wow...Brittany really missed me too..._

_***_

Brittany woke up earlier than usual the next morning. The very rare early morning sun was shining brightly through her bedroom window, and it filled her with confidence. Her best friend would be coming over; things would be right again.

She quickly changed and ran into Jeanette's room. "Good morning Jeanette! Rise and shine!" she said cheerfully. Jeanette did not even stir, so Brittany jumped onto her bed. "Come on, Jeanette!" Wake up!" she yelled, jumping up and down.

"Meh." Without even opening her eyes, Jeanette quickly pulled her pillow from underneath her bed, hit Brittany with it as hard as she could, and put it back under her head.

Eleanor sleepily walked into Jeanette's room, rubbing her eyes. "Brittany, what are you doing? Even I'm not up this early!"

"Ellie, tell her to go back to bed," Jeanette murmured from beneath her covers. "I'm sleepy."

Brittany ripped Jeanette's bed sheets away, grabbed her pillow, and gently hit her back with it. "Well, you shouldn't be, because today's a new day!" she said joyfully.

Eleanor stared at her, confused. "Umm, Brittany? Why exactly are you so happy today?" she asked.

Brittany shrugged. "I don't know...I just am, I guess. Now you two get dressed so we can all have some breakfast!"

She skipped out of Jeanette's room and down the stairs, but suddenly remembered the catastrophe that had occured just yesterday. The kitchen and living room were still in a completely destroyed mess, and bits and pieces of glass were scattered all over the floor. Sally's cruel, harsh words were still scribbled in big, red letters all over the mirror, and no matter how many times Miss Miller tried to scrub it off, the words still remained, bold and painful, in Brittany's eyes. The mirror reminded her of her destroyed hair, and as she gently tugged at it, as if in doing so would make it grow longer, she allowed a tear to roll down her cheek.

As Brittany carefully maneuvered across the hallway, avoiding all of the glass and debris on the floor, she saw Miss Miller in the kitchen, making breakfast at the stove and softly humming to herself. Miss Miller turned around as she heard Brittany's careful footsteps behind her. She flashed a painful smile as she saw Brittany's eyes brimming with tears. She abandoned the stove and quickly ran to Brittany, giving her a big hug. "Now don't you cry, sweetie," Miss Miller said softly. "Today'g going to be a better day. We're going to clean up the house so it looks brand new, just like when we moved in. And I even made eggs with bacon and toast, your favorite!"

Brittany shrugged sadly. "I guess," she said. She slowly walked over to the table, and picked at the breakfast Miss Miller place in front of her. Jeanette and Eleanor came down the stairs for breakfast soon after. Eleanor carefully guided Jeanette to her seat at the table, then sat herself down, wearing a spring green tank top and dark green shorts. The entire family ate in complete silence.

When breakfast was finished and Miss Miller cleared everyone's plates, she tried her best to break the silence. "I know you girls are very upset about what happened yesterday--"

"More like _furious--" _

"Aggravated--"

"Depressed..."

"I know girls...I feel the same way too," she continued. "But today is going to be a much better day, and I know it."

Jeanette squinted at Miss Miller. "How do you know? How do you know something terrible isn't going to happen today?"

As if providing the answer for Jeanette's question, the doorbell rang. Miss Miller smiled. "That's how I know."

Eleanor frowned. "That's weird; we weren't expecting anyone today...right?"

A small smile slowly spread on Brittany's face. Suddenly, she gasped. _I can't let Alvin see me like this! _She quickly ran upstairs to get her gray hoodie.

When Miss Miller opened the door, four familiar faces immediately brought joy to the Miller household. The girls ran to the door and hugged their best friends.

A tear almost fell on Jeanette's cheek as she finally embraced her favorite blue clad chipmunk. "Oh, Simon, it's so great to see you again! It's been...forever."

Simon chuckled. "Well, I did promise we'd visit sometime. I just didn't expect it to be so far away! But it's great to see you too," he said. He finally realized what had been missing all this time from Jeanette's face. "Jean? Where are your glasses? You probably can't see a thing!"

Jeanette blushed. "No, nothing at all. But it's okay though; I've been using the wall to guide me throughout the house. I'll be okay..."

Without thinking twice, Simon immediately removed his own glasses and placed them on Jeanette's face. "You need them more than I do, trust me. And my eyes aren't as weak as yours, so I'll manage." The two chipmunks shared a smile and went into the living room.

No words were even exchanged as eleanor and Theodore hugged each other tightly, crying into each other's shoulders.

Dave stepped into the hallway. "Well, we finally stopped by! I'm sorry we didn't visit sooner, but so many things got in the way...what did you want to talk about today?"

Miss Miller's smile slowly disappeared. "Come, I'll explain it all in the kitchen..." she said, as she led him down the hallway.

Alvin merely stood in the doorway, his hands in his pockets. "Umm...where's Brittany?" he said.

"I'm here!' Brittany yelled as she ran down the stairs, her hoodie pulled over her head. She tightly hugged Alvin, almost knocking him over. "I missed you so much,' she whispered, letting him go. But as soon as she did, her hoodie fell from her face, revealing the mistake she hated so much.

Simon and Theodore gasped, while Alvin tried to stifle a laugh, failing terribly. "Nice hair Brittany!" he cried. "What happened? Did you fall asleep under the dryer?"

Tears welled up in Brittany's eyes, and rapidly fell down her cheeks. "Traitor!" she yelled. "You'll never get it! You'll never understand! I hate you!" Brittany ran back upstairs screaming, and slammed the door to her room shut.

Alvin stared in confusion. "What did I do?"

Simon glared at his brother. "You just never learn, do you Alvin?"

Alvin ran up the stairs to Brittany's locked room and pounded on the door as loudly as he could. "Brittany! What did I do? What's wrong?"

"Go away!" he heard her scream and heard something heavy thrown at the door. "I never want to see you again!"

"Please just tell me what's wrong, Brittany!" Alvin sighed. "I know you sounded kind of upset over the phone yesterday, and I don't know if the reason is your hair, but if it is, I'm sorry. I...I really want to know what's wrong."

Nothing but silence came from Brittany's room, but the door slowly opened to reveal a red-eyes Brittany. She frowned. "Well...if you could say all that and mean it too, you must be pretty desperate. But fine, I'll tell you," she said, leading him into her room.

She sat on her bed, with Alvin sitting right next to her. "So," he began, "were you just having a bad hair day or something, or--"

"It's not about the hair!" Brittany spat. "It's about Sally."

"Sally? Who's Sally? A friend of yours?"

_Far from it..._ "Oh, would you let me finish?" she yelled again. "Sally is one of our neighbors on this block, and we've known her since the day we moved in. She seemed really nice, and even invited Miss Miller to her house after we moved in."

"Okay, so Sally was nice," Alvin said. "What made her different?"

"The thing is, she was never nice. She was pretending to be so she could find out more about us. And then she hated us because..."

"Because?"

"Because we're chipmunks."

"WHAT!" Alvin yelled. "Why does she hate you for that?"

"I don't know! But she hates Miss Miller for raising us, and say's we're rats, and...did you notice that when you walked in our house was a complete mess? Well, she snuck into our house yesterday morning and did all of that! And she ripped up Ellie's favorite dress and her cookbooks, and broke Jean's glasses, and..."

Alvin sighed. "And she cut off your hair."

Brittany sobbed. "I don't understand how anyone can be that mean!"

Alvin could almost feel his heart rip in two as he saw his best friend cry in front of him. He gently held her hand. "I don't think I'm talking to Brittany Miller right now."

Brittany slowly wiped away her tears. "What do you mean?"

Alvin chuckled. "The real Brittany wouldn't be crying in her room right now, just because someone doesn't like her."

She shrugged. "I guess not..."

"The real Brittany would forget about Sally, forget about what people think of her, and keep her head held high," Alvin continued, lifting Brittany's chin. "She would just do what she wants."

"Yeah, you're right...'

"_And_ she would find a way to make the hair work, by adding...I don't know, a pink bow or something."

Brittany grinned. "You're right!"

Alvin smiled. "I know I am."

She gently squeezed his hand. "Thanks, Alvin."

"For what?" he asked.

"For everything. Nothing. I don't know."

"Well then, you're welcome." Alvin gently kissed her cheek, making her blush a bright red.

Brittany stood up from her bed. "We'd better get back downstairs; everyone else probably already started cleaning."

The two of them walked back downstairs, hand in hand. Everyone had already started mopping and brooming, or adding new flowers to the house. Brittany's heart soared as she helped and watched her family cleaning...her whole entire family. They were finally together again; they were finally happy.

But what she did not realize was a certain someone sitting on the opposite side of the block, seeing everything through the Miller's window, furious...

* * *

_**Oh, boy...now what? Sorry about the weird cliffhanger. And I think the song fits pretty well in some parts of the chapter, right?**_

**_Let's try this one more time: Five reviews, and ASAP! Also, you guys should still check out my profile for my poll. It's a tie between three different couples, so I really need your vote! Thanks!_**

**_See you next update!_**

**_~leshawnaseville15 (^_^)_**


	8. Darkness

**_A/N: Okay, I know I'm bad at updating. Absolutely terrible. Pathetic._**

**_But anyway, chapter eight is finally up! It's probably not my longest chapter. But something big happens in this one. I don't know what you guys will think about this chapter..._**

_**In addition, you know those little stars I put up when the story changes scenes (***)? Well, for whatever reason, the document manager kept deleting it every time I saved it, so now it's just replaced with a line breaker.**_

**_So, don't hate me for my lack of updating skills, just...see what happens._**

**_ENJOY!_**

* * *

Sally's mind was in a complete blur. She was fuming, and her hands were shaking uncontrollably as she sat on her living room couch, thinking angrily about the events that had happened earlier that day.

She had seen them with her own eyes; she knew her mind was not playing tricks on her. Sally saw three of them; no, not the usual sister that drove her insane, but three _more_ of them. Three more _male_ chipmunks that decided to give them a visit. They looked like perfect matches of the girls she despised so much. And they had a human father. There were people out there that were just as crazy as Miss Miller, and she had the _audacity _to invite them into Sally's neighborhood.

She had seen all six of them walk outside to say goodbye after cleaning up the mess in Miss Miller's precious little home- a job Sally had worked so hard on, only to see Miss Miller smiling and happy again...and still here. She saw Brittany and the red-capped one, who looked like the doll she had ripped up holding hands, saw Jeanette and a blue-clad bespectacled one say goodbye- and Jeanette's glasses were _fixed_- saw Eleanor and a chubby green one hug and refused to let go.

It made her _sick_.

And as she thought about them for what must have been the millionth time that day...she screamed in frustration.

They had to be gone. And if Sally could do it before, to someone she knew so well, to someone she raised, in the sickest way possible...then she could do it again.

Richard pulled into the driveway of his home a bit earlier than usual that day. Work on the unit had definitely been a breeze, ever since Anderson's death a few months earlier. However, arriving home earlier always had its downfalls...

For months, he would come home to the same babbling nonsense of Sally, constantly droning on and on about nothing else but the Miller family, about how she was raising 'rats', about how their mother was 'insane'. Richard would come home to hear cackling rants about how someone in the neighborhood would realize Miss Miller's 'secret' and call the exterminators to kill off her girls. Yesterday, the day Sally had wrecked the Miller's home, Richard found her in such a delightful mood, happily explaining everything she had done to ruin their house, possibly their entire lives, that they were sure to leave in just a few days. However...that was yesterday. So as he heard Sally's ear piercing scream from the driveway and unlocked the front door to his home, Richard knew exactly what to expect. And of course, he found Sally sulking on the couch. Fuming. Angrier than Richard had ever seen her in years.

Richard hesitantly walked to the closet to hang up his coat. Although he could almost feel Sally's anger emanating just by looking at her, he knew it was not aimed at himself…he knew exactly who she was thinking about.

"It's about the Millers again, isn't it?" he asked. Although no answer came from Sally, he already knew. "Why exactly are you so upset?" Richard continued, annoyed. "Why can't you just leave them alone, let them live their lives the way they want to?"

Again, Sally said absolutely nothing to Richard. She slowly got up, passed him without even a glance, and walked into the kitchen.

"You decide to completely ruin their new home!" Richard continued angrily. "You've driven yourself even more insane just by staring at their house! _Every freaking day_! All because of the woman's _kids_! Just leave them alone! What have you got to gain by hating them like this?"

Still, no answer came from Sally. The only sound that came from the kitchen was the sound of utensils being shuffled together.

Richard became even more and more aggravated. "Are you not even listening to me? Every day when I come home, I listen to you talk about these people over and over again! Why won't you listen to me when I say-"

The shuffling sounds suddenly stopped, and Sally emerged from the kitchen with something held behind her back. "Why don't you just shut up, and leave me alone?" she growled.

Richard frowned. "You'll just never understand-"

Suddenly, Richard saw exactly what was hidden behind Sally's back- a glimpse of silver showed that it was a large, sharp knife. Sally quickly moved towards Richard, placing the knife dangerously close to his throat. "I've had enough of this," she growled. "I'm tired of trying to tell you what I hate so much. But, you're right- I have been complaining too much. I need to do something." A grin slowly grew on her face. "You probably don't remember this knife," she continued. Richard's heart raced as he eyes the large knife so close to killing him "I wouldn't expect you to know. I would've pushed it out of my mind too if I felt guilty…if it was the same knife that killed my own son. And it's been a while since I've done anything with this knife."

Richard gasped. "You're not hurting them!" he yelled.

Sally brought the knife against his neck, the small teeth slowly cutting into his skin. "I'll do whatever, I want to do to them," she hissed.

Without another word, Sally removed the knife, covered with a few drops of blood, and began to walk out the front door. Richard stared at her as she walked out. She turned around and gave him one last glare. "If I come back and you've called the police…you're dead."

* * *

Miss Miller calmly and slowly walked down the streets of her calm neighborhood. It was around seven o'clock, and it was very unusual for her to be shopping so late in the day. But nevertheless, she walked along, her plastic grocery bags hitting her sides with every step she took. The early darkness that enveloped the area gave the neighborhood a strange, eerie feel, and the moon and stars refused to shine that night. Most of the houses on the street Miss Miller was walking along had all of their lights out except for two or three homes, whose living room lights shone through their front windows, and the few porch lights that served their purpose by flickering on whenever she walked by.

As Miss Miller reached her own street, she noticed that every single one of the houses had all of their lights out. Almost none of the street lamps on her street were working. The only one that did was towards the middle of the block, which was only dimly lit; it looked like it would completely go out any second.

Miss Miller began to feel uneasy about walking home so late in the day, especially when it was so dark at such an early hour. So, to cheer herself up until she reached her home, she decided to hum a song to herself, just to lighten things up.

"Come on-a my house, my house, I'm gonna give you candy," she sang. She was completely out of tune, and voice seemed to screech, but it cheered her up to hear her favorite song winding through her mind again. "Come on-a my house, my house, I'm gonna give a you apple and a plum and an apricot-a too," she continued, swaying a bit to the music playing happily inside her head.

Suddenly, she heard the slight, soft sound of footsteps that were trying to keep up with her own to disguise themselves. Miss Miller stopped singing, and abruptly turned around. "Hello?" she called out into the darkness behind her, but no answer came.

Miss Miller turned back around and continued down her street. _Hmm...I could've sworn I heard something,_ she thought as she continued walking. "Come on-a my house, my house a come on. Come on-a my house, my house a come on. Come on-a my house, my house I'm gonna give a you figs and dates and grapes and cakes," Miss Miller sang, this time with a little bit of unease as she did.

Just as she began, the sound of footsteps came from behind her once again, sounding a little heavier and a little closer than last time. Miss Miller quickly turned around again, but still no one was there. "Who's there?" she called out. Still, no answer came. "Show yourself!" Miss Miller yelled, fear clearly heard in her voice.

Miss Miller turned around again, and the footsteps resumed. This time, the footsteps were getting faster, running towards her. Miss Miller started running as fast as her legs could take her, her plastic grocery bags constantly hitting at her sides and legs, trying her best to reach the only lit streetlamp. As she finally stopped right below it, the streetlamp began to flicker furiously. And as she turned around...

There was nothing.

Suddenly, Miss Miller saw a flash of silver, and felt something sharp pierce into her back continuously. She screamed, and fell to the ground, her head hitting the ground with such force that she couldn't feel anything anymore, could only see the faint outline of someone standing over her with something red in their hand, and could faintly hear the sound of that someone laughing maniacally...

The streetlamp flickered out...

And there was nothing but darkness...

* * *

**_There are a couple of reasons this chapter took so long to put up. One, this chapter was very painful for me to actually write down. Why? I'll explain everything when the last chapter finally comes out. _**

**_And two, I was second-guessing putting up this chapter, but I already had the whole entire plot planned out. I honestly don't know what your reactions will be, so if you hate it...well, I guess you can tell me. I'll understand._**

**_~leshawnaseville15 (^_^)_**


	9. Gone Forever

**_A/N: Hi again everybody! I'm really sorry it's taken me forever to update, but thank you all for being patient! I've had so many things going on...my research project, huge French memorizations, review week and finals week...but it's all finally OVER and school is OUT! Which means I have time to resume my happy, no-work life and update this story! YAY!_**

**_So, remember the last chapter, when something really saddening and drastic occurred? Yeah, that? Well, this chapter might be just as drastic..._**

**_ENJOY!_**

* * *

Alvin twisted and turned in his bed as he tried to fall back asleep. It had been terribly difficult for him to do so throughout the entire night, and as he glanced at his alarm clock and saw that it was already six o'clock in the morning, he groaned and got up anyway. It was much earlier than he would usually wake up, especially on a weekend, but too many things were on his mind, things too important to just ignore and avoid...

Brittany was on his mind. Not just Brittany, but her whole entire family- Jeanette, Eleanor, Miss Miller- and all the events she had told him about.

Sally was on his mind. That evil witch that lived just across the street from his best friends was torturing them at every chance she saw. He saw the way the house looked...the bold, bright writing on the mirror...the pain in everyone's eyes...in her eyes...those bright baby blue eyes he loved ever since his made contact with them...He couldn't let her pain, her family's pain, grow even worse. He had to do something.

Without thinking twice, Alvin quickly changed into his favorite red sweater and signature red cap, moving silently so as not to wake up his brothers. Unfortunately, it didn't work; Simon stirred as he heard the rustling of Alvin's clothes.

"Alvin," he groaned. "What are you doing up this early? Even I'm not up this early! What are you up to?"

"I'm going to see Brittany," he whispered.

Simon frowned. "You really think Dave will be willing to drive you over there? At _six o' clock in the morning_?"

"I know he wouldn't," he replied, making his way to the other end of the bedroom and wheeling his bike out of the closet.

"Umm, Alvin?" Simon began. "You do realize that the girls live almost thirty minutes away _by car_, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"And...you're going over there by bike."

"Yep."

Simon sighed. "Alvin, I can't believe this..."

"Look, will you just cover for me?" Alvin asked.

"No! I refuse to-"

"You saw their faces yesterday!" Alvin cried. "You saw Jeanette...she was terrified. Brittany and Eleanor too, they were miserable. You saw their house, and heard about that mean lady Sally! I'm pretty sure that if you cared about them as much as I do, you would do this too."

Simon's scowl slowly softened. He got out of his bed and gave his brother a hug. "Alright, go ahead. Theodore and I will visit them later, okay? Just make sure you help them out before we get there."

Alvin smiled. "Thanks, Si," he whispered, before wheeling his bike carefully down the staircase and out the front door.

As expected, the bike ride to the Miller's home was excruciatingly long...maybe more than an hour and a half. But the timing didn't really bother Alvin; he liked the chilling winter breeze against his skin, the flashes of color of houses as he rode quickly by them, the rush he felt from going so fast in the first place. It was worth the ride, because after all of this he would be able to make sure his best friends were all okay.

Before he knew it, the houses he rode by started to look familiar; he was in the Miller's neighborhood. Alvin slowed down his bike so he could read all of the street signs. After a few minutes, he was able to read the familiar street sign just ahead; all he had to make was another right. But there was something on the sidewalk that caught his eye...

In the middle of the sidewalk, Alvin saw a large clump. It wasn't moving, and it wasn't breathing either. _What is that?_ Alvin thought. _Garbage bags? Dirt?_ As he cautiously rode his bike a little further, he realized that the clump lying there was a person, and that there was some form of liquid surrounding it. _Oh gosh_, Alvin thought, _I'd better call 911. This person's family must be wondering what happened..._ His voice trailed off as he suddenly recognized the gray hair, the familiar clothing...the blank face that stared into space...and screamed.

Heart pounding, eyes spilling with tears, he abandoned his bike and ran as fast as his legs could take him to the Miller household. He realized the door was open, and quickly ran inside.

Eleanor was already awake, standing on a stool and making eggs on the stove. She smiled. "Hi Alvin! What brings you..." Her smile suddenly faded as she saw the fear and confusion on Alvin's face. "Alvin?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

Alvin could barely speak. "On the street...M-Miss Miller...I..._go wake up your sisters!_" he yelled suddenly. "Now!"

Eleanor ran upstairs, leaving Alvin alone in the kitchen. His chest felt as if it could explode from hyperventilating so much. Only seconds later, Eleanor and her sisters ran down the stairs. "Alvin, what's wrong? What happened?"

"Just...go outside. Around the corner," he said, feeling speechless.

The girls ran outside, and Alvin could hear everything- their horrified screams, their loud sobs, Brittany's frantic voice yelling, "H-Hello, 911? Please! Help us! Our mother-"

Alvin couldn't stand to listen anymore. He slowly made his way to the nearby phone. After a few rings, the reassuring voice he needed to hear came on. "Alvin?" he heard Dave say. "Why did you leave the house without telling me? You are in big trouble!"

"Dave?" Alvin sobbed into the mouthpiece. "Please. Just come over. Something's wrong...something's terribly wrong..."

* * *

The entire house was completely silent as Brittany, Jeanette, Alvin, and Simon sat together in the living room, their eyes red and silently allowing tears to trickle down their cheeks. No words could have possibly been said among them...their most beloved mother figure, the loving woman they had known all their lives, was gone. It was official when the police arrived shortly after Brittany's frantic 911 call. Dave arrived at the scene with Theodore and Simon at the same time, and had gone into the ambulance with Miss Miller's body to talk to the nurses about the incident. Simon and Theodore were required to stay at the Miller household while Dave went to the hospital. It was probably a good decision too...hours after the news, the girls were still completely broken down, destroyed...

Eleanor and Theodore finally emerged from the kitchen with a large plate piled high with chocolate chip cookies. Theodore had suggested that Eleanor cheer herself up by doing something that the both of them loved: baking.

"Hi guys," Eleanor said, her face still covered with dry tear streaks. "Well, I tried to make a batch of cookies to cheer everyone up. Let's hope they taste okay..." She placed the plate on the floor in front of everyone. "Dig in."

Simon dried his tears and forced a smile. "Thanks Ellie," he replied, and took a cookie. Everyone else followed suit.

Eleanor showed a slight sign of hope as everyone took a bite. "What do you think?" she asked hesitantly.

Theodore forced down his cookie. "Well...uh...it-it's..." Alvin suddenly coughed loudly as he swallowed his cookie.

Tears started to form in Eleanor's eyes again. "They're terrible!" she cried, hiding her face in her hands.

"Don't say that, Ellie," Jeanette said, bringing her into a comforting hug. "It could just use a little extra...something, that's all. I'm sure Miss Miller would have loved them."

"Miss Miller..." Brittany sobbed, and Alvin wrapped his arms around her. "Don't cry, Brittany," he whispered, "don't cry..."

"I wish Dave would just come back," said Theodore. "He could help us. What if whoever hurt Miss Miller..." he suddenly shuddered, "...comes after us?"

"Please don't think of it that way!" Simon yelled. "What I want to know is who had the audacity to hurt her in the first place?"

Brittany slowly lifted her head from Alvin's shoulder at Simon's words. Her red eyes suddenly flashed with anger as they caught a glimpse of the hallway mirror. It had been scrubbed down as best as possible a few days ago, but the remaining, stubborn smudges that refused to come off stood out like a gleaming sign of the devil who decided to destroy their lives even further... "I think I know exactly who did this," Brittany growled through her tears.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang loudly. As if on cue, a very familiar voice came from outside. However, the voice sounded seemingly...kinder than usual. "Brittany? Jeanette? Eleanor? It's me, Sally. Can I come in?" she asked. The three sisters looked at each other fearfully as Sally continued from outside. "Please let me in, girls. I wanted to talk to you." The girls were terrified. Why was Sally sounding so sincere? Why in the world would she want to talk to them? After a few seconds of hesitation, Eleanor bravely opened the front door. In front of them stood a very different, less glamorous Sally, who was not wearing any makeup or fancy clothing. The only bag she was carrying was a very large tote bag, and a delicious smell wafted from it.

"Hello girls," Sally said warmly, flashing them a small smile. "I heard about Miss Miller this morning. When I heard the ambulance outside, and ran over to see what was going on...gosh, it was absolutely devastating. Tears threatened to fall from the girls' eyes, but their intense glares were still focused on her. Sally, despite noticing their hatred, continued: "So, I came over to give my condolences. It's a very saddening moment, but I bought some cake that we could share together, just to cheer all of us up." Sally gave a small smile again and walked in through the front door.

She paused as she passed by the living room, seeing the other three chipmunks moping and teary-eyed as they sat together. "Oh, hello there!" Sally exclaimed with a smile. She turned to the girls. "Are they your friends?"

Jeanette hesitantly spoke. "Uh…yes. This is Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. We used to live across the street from each other until we moved here."

"Well, I'm glad they came. Everyone needs a friend during this time," said Sally. "You should join us for some cake." Theodore was very quick to run to the kitchen with Sally, his mouth watering.

"That's Sally?" asked Simon, as he saw her happily give a huge slice of cake to a very hungry Theodore. "She sure is a lot nicer than you described her."

Brittany glared. "Something's wrong with her!" She whispered harshly. "She would never act this way without some sort of plan! I know it!"

"But Brittany," said Jeanette, "what if…well, maybe Sally's had a slight change of heart, you know…after she found out about…Miss Miller-"

"Oh, really?" Brittany growled. "Jeanette, weren't you and Eleanor the ones that first helped me realize how terrible Sally is? You remember the last time she was nice to us; we thought she was the kindest neighbor around, right? Then it turned out that she just wanted us to know that she hated us! Sally decided to destroy our house, our things…that writing on the mirror! She hated Miss Miller, and I wouldn't be surprised if she was the one that decided to…get rid of her…"

The atmosphere surrounding the friends suddenly fell silent. Brittany did have a point; as terribly frightening and unbelievable as it sounded to them…it could have been true. Could Sally have gone that far? And why was she acting so nice and sincere all of a sudden?

Sally walked out of the kitchen to where the friends stood in silence. "Are you alright? Do you not want anything to eat?" she asked sincerely.

Everyone turned to stare at Brittany who, after a few seconds, finally sighed and said, "Sure. Why not?"

* * *

Hours went by, and Sally was still keeping the Chipmunks and Chipettes company at the Miller household. They all decided to just watch the TV in the living room together to find a movie that would cheer them up. Sally was laughing and clapping along with the rest of them, making everyone's spirits lift for a while...

Everyone except for Brittany, who merely sat a few feet apart from Sally and the group, her arms folded against her chest, anger, hatred, and confusion still in her eyes. She wanted Sally out of her home, away from her sisters and friends. She wanted her to stop flashing that gleaming smile that she knew was completely fake, no matter how beautiful and flawless it looked. It was hiding something, and she knew it…

The end credits for the movie came up, and everyone clapped. "That was a great movie, wasn't it?" said Sally as she stood up to stretch her legs. She checked the time on the nearby clock and gasped. "It's almost nine o' clock! Didn't you say your friend would be back by now?"

"Oh, it's fine. Dave will be back soon enough, so you can leave us all alone now," Brittany snapped. Eleanor elbowed her in the stomach hard and glared at her.

"Brittany, I couldn't do that to you guys," said Sally. "Leaving the six of you at home by yourselves must have been a very last-minute decision that wasn't thought out very well, and I want to make sure you are all okay. Besides," she continued, "this is definitely a great way to get to know each other better." Sally suddenly wrapped her arms around her in a warm hug, but Brittany immediately pushed her arms away in fury.

"Get your stupid hands off me!" she yelled. "Just go away and leave us all alone! I don't know what your dirty little mind is planning to do, but try anything and I'll call the cops!"

Sally stared at her, completely in shock. "But, Brittany, I only wanted to spend time with you-"

"Shut up!" Brittany screamed. "You hate us! You hated Miss Miller! And I will always hate you!" She ran out of the living room and up the stairs to her bedroom as the Chipmunks and her sisters stared after her in shock.

Sally sighed heavily. "Maybe she's just in denial of her mother's death…"

"Maybe I should go check up on her," said Jeanette.

Sally smiled. "It's okay, Jeanette. You stay down here while I go see if she's okay." She walked out of the living room and into the kitchen, where she had left the cake lying on the counter. The knife she had used to cut slices for everyone was still lying next to it, and as she used her finger to wipe off the frosting and crumbs that remained and washed it under the sink, she knew that Miss Miller was not going to be the only family member the Chipettes would grieve.

* * *

Inside her bedroom, Brittany sulked and cried on her bed. Her life was going in sickening circles, and she just could not handle it anymore. Her mother was dead, Dave was not back from the hospital yet, and Sally…

Brittany's eyes caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her hair was still in its ugly, short, uneven mess. Sally ruined everything for her! And now she thinks she can patch up the holes in Brittany's life by…eating cake and watching movies! She hoped that whatever pain Miss Miller went through, Sally would suffer a million times worse.

Suddenly, she heard a loud knock at her door. "Brittany? It's Sally. Please let me in…"

"NO!" Brittany screamed. She chucked the nearest object at the door as hard as she could, which happened to be a hairbrush.

Sally sighed from behind the door. "Please, Brittany. I want to apologize…for everything. I'm sorry for the mess in your house, your hair…and what happened to your mother truly is terrible. Your life shouldn't have to be this way…"

Brittany slowly got off her bed and opened the door. "Do you…really mean that?" she asked.

Sally smiled. "Of course I do," she said, bringing Brittany into a hug. This time, Brittany allowed herself to be comfortable in Sally's arms; she trusted her and wanted to forgive her, wanted to end all of the hatred and confusion.

After a few minutes, Sally pulled away from the hug. "Which is why," she continued, as she revealed the knife she had concealed behind her back, "I have to end it."

Brittany jumped back from Sally in fear. "W-what are you doing?"

Sally chuckled darkly. "I'm doing you a favor. You hate what I've done to your life, so why don't we just end it? It's the same concept I used on your idiot of a mother."

"You killed Miss Miller!" Brittany screamed, angry tears spilling out of her eyes. She screamed even louder as Sally brought her knife down to stab her, barely missing her arm.

Downstairs, the sudden screaming echoed loudly, making everyone jump. Alvin quickly got up and ran towards Brittany's room. "Brittany! I'm coming!" he yelled.

"Alvin, stop!" Simon yelled as he tried to pull him back, failing as he did so. "Brittany's probably just overreacting!"

Sure enough, they opened the door to find Brittany trapped in a corner of her room with Sally hovering over her, the sharp knife in her hand poised to strike. Everyone gasped in fear of what they saw before them. "Get away from her, Sally!" Alvin screamed. He turned to Eleanor. "Quick, call 911!" Eleanor rushed out of the room as quickly as she could to the nearby phone.

As she heard the frantic pressing of numbers and Eleanor's screaming, anxious voice, Sally slowly walked away from Brittany, leaving her crying and whimpering in the corner, and made her way towards Alvin. "You…stupid…chipmunks…you think you can just get rid of me that easily?" she growled. "You think a call of 911 will save you? By the time the police get here, you'll all be dead. Dead and out of my life!" Sally quickly raised the sharp knife in her hand and stabbed Alvin, aiming straight for his stomach. Alvin collapsed to the floor screaming, his blood quickly seeping through his sweater.

"Eleanor!" Theodore cried. "Tell the cops to hurry up!" Sally growled again and lunged for Theodore, grabbing him by the throat. Simon and Jeanette frantically tried kicking and scratching Sally to free him, and Theodore struggled to loosen the grasp of Sally's hands around him, but began to lose breath fast. "Please…let me…go…"

Sally laughed with pleasure as the look in Theodore's eyes began to grow weaker and weaker. "Dead and out of my life…forever!"

Suddenly, the faint sound of sirens was heard from the bedroom window, and bright lights could be seen as a group of police cars began to approach the house. Sally quickly dropped Theodore out of her grasp, leaving him coughing and gasping for air on the floor. Without another word, she ran as fast as she could out of Brittany's room and out the front door, making her way to her home on the opposite side of the street.

Sally paused in the middle of the street, her eyes growing with fear as the police cars drew nearer. _I can't let them get me!_ She thought as she continued her dash across the street. She quickly unlocked the door to her home and slammed the door shut behind her only to find Richard home early, sprawled out on the couch reading a newspaper…exactly the person Sally would hate to see at this moment.

Richard put down his paper and stared in shock at Sally's frightened eyes. "Sally…what's going on?" he asked.

"Shut up and hide me, Richard!" Sally yelled. "Hide me anywhere! And if they ask where I am, just…just tell them I'm not here!"

"They? Who? Sally, who are you-"

Suddenly, the sound of the police car's sirens grew louder and nearer, making Sally's shrieks even more frantic. "I can't let them arrest me!" she bawled as she ran into the basement to hide.

Richard was finally able to piece together everything he knew about Sally, about the terrible event that the Miller went through…and completely understood. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM!" he yelled down the staircase to the basement.

There was a loud knock on the front door, and Sally felt like her heart would burst from all of the panic she was going through. As the knock on the door continued and Sally understood that in just a few minutes, the reality of her future would be agonizing, she knew that the only way to prevent all of it from happening was with the glistening, sharp object still in her right hand...

And as the front door was forced open by the police, Sally's ear piercing screams echoed throughout the house, and Richard crumpled to the ground in sadness…

The nightmare for the Millers was over.

The friends were still completely stunned by Sally's sudden leave, but they were all huddled around Alvin, who was still writhing in pain. They all ran quickly to the police waiting outside, with Simon and Theodore carrying their brother along with them.

Dave just happened to be returning from the nearby hospital when he saw the police cars lined up near the Miller household and cops entering the Garrick's home. He quickly got out of his car and ran to the Chipmunks and Chipettes. "What in the world happened here?" he asked.

Brittany tightly hugged Dave's legs and cried. "Sally…she came back…she tried to hurt me…but she hurt Alvin, really badly…"

An ambulance had arrived along with the police, and Alvin was quickly examined by the nurses inside. "He'll be perfectly fine," one of the nurses told Dave. "He'll just need to be in the hospital for minor treatment for a few days, and will only need a few stitches afterwards. There is no need to worry."

"Thank you so much," he replied. He sighed with relief, but was still terribly shocked. Only a few hours ago, he was told by the hospital that Miss Miller was gone, and the minute he came back, the children were hurt, almost killed. Dave observed all of their frightened faces, the tear streaks that still covered their faces, the way they huddled so close together, as if to protect each other…but was at least glad that everyone was finally alright.

An officer kindly asked if they wanted a ride to the hospital, and as Dave, the Chipmunks and Chipettes climbed in with him, Dave decided to get their full story. "So," he began, "do you want to tell me what happened?"

Brittany whimpered, and immediately began to cry loudly again. Dave brought her into a tight hug, allowing her to cry into his shoulder. "It's alright, Brittany," he whispered softly. "It's over. Everything will be alright."

Although it took a while for her to fully explain everything that occurred, she suddenly felt- each one of them felt- completely relieved. Despite all of the twists and turns all of their lives had taken in only the past few months…it was over. Sally was gone. The monster that ruined their happiness, their innocence, was finally…

Gone and out of their lives…forever…

* * *

**_So, is that some pretty sweet revenge for you guys? I know many reviews have begged for this to happen, and it did! I hope it was worth it! This is not the last chapter though! The very last one is coming up next, and should be coming out soon enough._**

**_Please review! _**

**_leshawnaseville15 (^_^)_**


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